Eleuthero Root- Nature’s Steroid?

In a time where athletes would do almost anything to get ahead (take theRussiansfor example), scrutiny has been placed upon the athletic world like never before.

Still, a lot of athletes are taking a chance and risking their careers and reputations to for a CHANCE at glory. Not even guaranteed, but just to get an edge so their chances are higher.

This is prevalent not just on the professional level, but in amateur sports and even recreational levels as well. Questionable supplements and other banned substances aren’t regulated among weekend warriors, and some abuse these products to get an edge over their friends, look bigger faster, all without knowing the damage they’re doing to their bodies.

What if I told you there’s a supplement that is all natural (meaning it’s found in nature, not the same “all natural” you find on processed food labels) and so potent and powerful that the Russians tried to keep it a secret from the rest of the world?

Of course the cat is out of the bag now. During the Olympics in the 80’s, Russian athletes were taking this legal supplements and destroying their competition in the games. Now I’m not saying that it was ALL due to this supplement, but I don’t think it hurt them either.

After, the Russians are known for their doping scandals among their athletes. But with that fact in mind, it goes to show how high of a value they placed on this natural supplement.

Even when taking banned substances that are guaranteed to enhance their athletic performance, this supplement was still a regular part of the athletes’ nutritional profile.

Okay, I know you waiting to find out what it is. So I introduce to you…

Eleuthero Root, or Siberian Ginseng, or Ciwujiia, or any other name that it goes by, is by far one of the most powerful natural herbal supplements known to man. It is an adaptogen, which is a natural herb that helps our bodies adapt to stress.

As said before, the Russians were trying to keep this all to themselves when they found it in their home country at the time. And of course, numerous studies were done on its effects, dosage, timing, etc.

When the rest of the world found out, even more studies were performed just to see if the claims made by the Russians in their research were true.

Well, I’ll let you decide at the end of this article.

Let me just go over some of the effects this has, mostly on athletic performance, but also metabolic health and general health as well.

Fitness Improvements

As with most clinical trials, the tests done with Eleuthero include mice studies. Although our insides have a lot in common with that of mice, it’s just not convincing (to me anyway) when some things work on mice, it works on humans just the same.

But don’t worry, we have human trials for this one.

However, just in case you were curious, the mice trials did reveal some interesting findings.

Different groups of mice were subjected to long swimming sessions and each were fed different concentrations of the Eleuthero water extract. The group fed the highest concentrations showed the most anti-fatigue effects on Days 5 and 7 of the study.¹

Now onto the human trial results.

When taken with meals in 2 divided doses for 8 weeks, 800 mg of Eleuthero Root helped improved the following parameters when test subjects were to cycle at 75% VO2Max to exhaustion²:

Time to exhaustion increased by 23%

Max heart rate increased by 4.3%

VO2Max increased by 12%

Respiratory exchange ratio improved by 2.7%

Utilization of free fatty acids increased by 19.5%

Glucose level during exercise decreased by 6.7%

Nothing Calls For Fitness Like a Triathlon

It doesn’t take a medical researcher to tell that those improvements are nothing to scoff at. And these were college recreational

athletes, not some beginner showing beginner’s gains.

Professional athletes would do almost anything to increase their time to exhaustion by even just 1%, nevermind 23%!

Max heart rate is associated with fitness level. The higher your max heart rate, the more fit your cardiovascular system is. Your heart is able to work more due to being in better shape.

VO2Max and respiratory exchange ratio (respiratory quotient) were explained inthis previous article. Go ahead and check that out if you haven’t yet.

The last two parameters is where it gets interesting.

We see an increase in the usage of fatty acids in our blood and a decrease in usage of glucose. If you’ve been following my articles, you know I just finished up a 3-part series on low carb diets.

This increase of fatty acid usage and decrease in glucose sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it?

Basically, without any changes in diet (at least not outlined by this study), Eleuthero is helping our bodies burn more fatty acids for energy during exercise instead of the glucose in our system.

Given that the exercise intensity was kept at 75% VO2Max, glycogen usage wasn’t 100% anyway. There was most likely a split between glucose usage and fatty acid usage.

But all of this is significant for endurance athletes, especially the last 2. Basically, when we’re going submaximal effort, Eleuthero protect our glycogen stores and taps into using fatty acids for fuel instead. So when it’s max effort time (think the last uphill or the last 100m sprint to the finish), we got more glycogen in the tank to burn than the guy who didn’t think Eleuthero works 🙂

Of course, no “steroid” would be complete without strength gains.

In a 8 week study conducted in Australia, scientist discovered that supplementing a group of men with Eleuthero increased their pectoral strength by 13% and bicep strength by 15%.7

These are not small numbers considering that even just a 0.5% increase in any attribute can make the difference between standing on the podium, or looking from the sideline.

Cardiovascular

One study looked at rats with a cardiovascular condition called postinfarction cardiosclerosis, a condition where connective tissues in the heart grows in place of actual heart muscle. These rats were given 16mg per kg of bodyweight of Eleuthero for 5 days, and the ventricular fibrillation threshold was elevated³.

Ventricular fibrillation is a condition when the heart beats erratically and out of its natural rhythm, causing the ventricles to shake and quiver instead of pumping blood.

Can’t Forget This Guy

Imagine pumping water out of a well with a hand pump. With regular, patterned, consistent pumping, the water comes out of the well no problem. But what if all of a sudden we crank down on the lever really hard? And we kept doing that super fast over and over?

The water doesn’t come out as smoothly as before, and you’ll probably notice the mechanism shaking and vibrating, not just from the force you’re exerting on it, but the effect the pumping action have on the water.

So by raising the threshold at which this starts to happen, Eleuthero in effect eliminated the symptoms of this diseases for some.

In another study, a group of postmenopausal women were taking 1500mg of Eleuthero Extract everyday for six months. Those women saw a 13.5% decrease in LDL cholesterol, with no change in HDL and total cholesterol or triglycerides.4

Metabolism And Obesity

Some observational studies in rats found that Eleuthero supplementation can actually stimulate the release of insulin from the pancreas, which lowers the level of blood glucose.5

I personally can’t be sure if this is necessarily good or bad. One of the reasons why diabetics become diabetics is pancrea burnout. After so much insulin has been released, the pancreas can no longer keep up and eventually stops insulin secretion altogether.

So stimulating more insulin via this herbal supplementation MIGHT be okay, but I really cannot be sure.

What we can be sure of though is its effects on fat mass and weight gain.

For 12 weeks, a group of rats were given 500mg per kg bodyweight of Eleuthero Root. The purpose of this study is to find out if Eleuthero can reduce weight gain when the rats were put into a caloric surplus.

In both diabetic and non-diabetic rats, supplementation with Eleuthero reduced weight gain by 13.4% and 25.3%, respectively.6

So if dinner was quite hefty and we feel the scale is going to shoot up tomorrow, regular intake of Eleuthero might just shave some of that off.

Which One To Choose From?

Do a simple search on Google for Eleuthero Root and you’ll find hundreds of supplements for this herb. Just like any other supplement, each claims it’s the best and will do better than its competition.

After looking through tons and tons of different brands and their claims, there’s one I came across that I found to not only be the best value, but works better than the rest.

This isthe potent, effective, and most reliable form of Eleuthero that I’ve came across.

What makes this so much different than the other supplements out there?

For 3 BIG reasons:

This version of the Eleuthero Extract fits all dietary types. Whether you’re strictly paleo, vegan, gluten-free, or none of the mentioned, this supplement fits the bill.

There are absolutely no preservatives, added sugars, fillers, artificial anything, or GMO’s. How do we know this for sure? Because…

Lab reports are available for you right on their website. Just to show that the product is 100% legit, you’re presented with:

Certificate of Analysis

Heavy Metals and Minerals Report

Microbiological Report

This to me makes the biggest difference when choosing not just a supplement, but any product in general. The supplier has put in the effort to have stringent quality assurance put into place, and we get to see the results of it before making any decisions.

Eleuthero Extract

Effects - 10/10

10/10

Taste - 10/10

10/10

Price - 9.5/10

9.5/10

Ease Of Use - 10/10

10/10

Summary

Beyond just the effects described earlier, I feel calmer after my workouts, my cognitive abilities seem to have improved, and my strength and endurance gains took a jump as well! Although I feel the price is a tad bit on the high side, you get what you pay for!

9.9/10

User Rating0(0 votes)

Sending

Well, I hope you’ve made your decision, cuz I’ve certainly made mine.

Whether you’re an athlete looking to take your game to the next level, or just trying to find something to help you de-stress, improve heart and metabolic health, without forking over tons of money for subpar quality products, this is a treat you don’t want to miss.

I've just started getting serious about health and fitness around 2014. Since then I've learned the insider info on how to optimize athletic performance and healthy living through both nutrition and proper training. The most important thing I've discovered however, is the connection between the mindset of those that excel in athletics, and those that succeed in their life pursuits. I've spent the last couple years observing and drawing these connections and similarities, finally created a platform to share with you all what I've found, and how to apply them in your own life to get similar results.

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10 thoughts on “Eleuthero Root- Nature’s Steroid?”

An excellently presented and researched piece of work. I like that you quote your sources since taking this kind of supplement should be done with caution and care for one’s health. The balance of pros and cons is good and leaves the reader able to make their own mind up regarding useage of the supplement.
There are a lot of biochemical references which could maybe have an index? However, I feel that the ideal reader would probably understand and be familiar with those terms. Well done.

Hi Wing,
Great and interesting article. I’ve heard about this, but never really looked in to it due to all the hype that sometimes comes with natural supplements. But your review was quite thorough and convinced me to give it a try, especially after the statistics you listed from the clinical trial. I’m starting to prepare for my first marathon, do you think it’s something I should start taking now or perhaps when I’m a little more fit? I’d be interested to know your thoughts. Thanks!

As with any supplement, I’d recommend looking into the potential side effects this may have first. If you have any medical conditions, it’s important to talk to your doctor and do some research on how it may affect you.

But if you have no existing medical conditions, Eleuthero is generally safe to take. In that case, I’d take it as soon as you find out it’s suitable for you. The effects will help you progress faster and prep you better for your marathon.

I use ginseng to cook my soups and dishes sometimes and I just love the slightly bitter taste. However, I’ve not tried nor heard of this eleuthero root before. Is this supplement in powder or pill form?

It’s great to know that it has anti-fatigue effects and helps with strengthening our bodies. Is eleuthero extract suitable for everyone?

Hello â€“ as a healthcare provider, Iâ€™m always looking for natural ways for my patients to improve body and mind performance. This is awesome! Is there a difference in the effects (and dosage to be used) of the Eleuthero Root on men vs. women? Reading on your rationale for choosing this particular product, I am almost 100% convinced. Now I just have to try this myself before making recommendations to anyone else â€“ that way, I can speak from experience. A great article with references.

I’m not personally aware of dosage difference based on gender. I do know some guidelines suggest basing it off our body weight. And since most men tend to weigh more than women, the dosage would typically be higher for men.

You are absolutely right about athletes taking steroids and injections to improve their endurance and stamina. I am a national level basketball player and I had seen athletes taking injections and working out.

I am really startled to know that we can increase exhaustion time up to 23% without using steroids. Is it for real? I really can’t believe it. But if it’s true it is like the elixir for players.

The results from tests done on human subjects show it as such. Of course, these numbers most likely varies from person to person. No one can say the same benefits will be shown for everyone across the board.

With that being said, the only way to find out if it works for us is by trying it out.